Route Irish (2010)

The story of a private security contractor in Iraq who rejected the official explanation of his friend's death and sets out to discover the truth.

Director:

Ken Loach

Writer:

Paul Laverty (screenplay)

Stars:

Andrea Lowe, Geoff Bell, Najwa Nimri

1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Andrea Lowe	...	Rachel
Geoff Bell	...	Alex Walker
Najwa Nimri	...	Marisol
Jamie Michie	...	Jamie
Stephen Lord	...	Steve
John Bishop	...	Frankie
Mark Womack	...	Fergus
Gary Cargill
Paul J. Dove	...	Passenger on a Ferry - 1970-1980 flashback
Jack Fortune	...	Haynes
Andy Dwyer
Trevor Williams	...	Nelson
Natalie Flood
Craig Lundberg	...	Craig
Talib Rasool	...	Harim

Storyline

The story of a private security contractor in Iraq who rejected the official explanation of his friend's death and sets out to discover the truth.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Thriller

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [fr] Official site [jp]

Country:

UK France Italy Belgium Spain

Language:

English Arabic

Release Date:

16 March 2011 (France)

Also Known As:

Halál sugárút

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sixteen Films, Why Not Productions, Wild Bunch

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min 109 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Quotes

Harim: This song is from Mesopotamia, uh... which means the land between the two rivers: the Tigris and the Eufrates, where the homo sapiens learned to write, to count and mark the stars, which anthropologists called the cradle of civilizations. In my dreams it might be once again.

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Connections

Featured in Breakfast: Episode dated 15 March 2011 (2011)

User Reviews

Timely insight in the Iraq war.

A timely and hard hitting film about the Iraq conflict from the great Ken Loach and written by his long time colleague, Paul Laverty which deals mostly with the role of private security firms (mercenaries working for the various western governments) and their lawless actions out there in a conspiracy thriller with a very real edge that also shows the pressures on soldiers in civilian life to conform to normality when leaving a war zone. Using relatively unknown actors with Mark Womack starring and John Bishop (the comedian, surprisingly good) and Andrea Lowe co-starring, it is in this that a few flaws are shown as there is a couple of scenes which really don't look too convincing in my opinion but oblivious to this, it is still a very real feeling film for me in representing Womack as a troubled ex-SAS soldier who is working as a security soldier (merc) with his best friend joining him in Iraq for the big pay and Womacks relationship after the death with Bishops girlfriend (here in lies some great acting between Womack and Andrea Lowe). What transpires from the start is Womack not making a flight for a job due to a fight in Liverpool and Bishop getting killed in a manner which seems suspicious to him and from here you get a great 'who dun-nit' style thriller which doesn't pull it's punches in some of it's scenes in dealing with the guilty parties but also a good message and insight into what is going on in Iraq and Afghanistan with the rise of private armies working for various corporations that are aligned with our governments and also some of the atrocities which happen on a regular basis that are swept under the carpet. Not in the league of 'the wind that shakes the barley' or 'my name is Joe' but still a entertaining thriller with a good message.